Letter

Citizens United’s profound impacts

Last Sunday NHPR re-broadcast the proceedings of the Monadnock Summer Lyceum of Aug. 18. Driving my car I was one captive listener. Judy Wicks was the speaker. Judy’s passion is the transformation of our economy and, in particular, of the way we produce and distribute our food. New ideas, catching on far beyond Philadelphia, where she lives.

Then came Q&A. When asked about the greatest obstacle in changing this country’s dependence on big agribusiness and our rush to genetically modified products, Judy mentioned the huge stumbling block for so many great ideas and progressive reforms: Citizens United! The Supreme Court decision rendered in 2013, which grants corporations free speech rights and has ushered in a flood of political contributions from big corporations and wealthy donors that silence the citizens’ voices and put the brakes on countless reforms.

Folks, we must act. As long as votes are for sale, as they are under our system, special interests will dominate our elections. Lawrence Lessig, law professor and head of the E.J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard, will speak about campaign finance reform on Sept. 6 in Concord.